Pile fabric knitting machine



March 8, 1932. D, Mom 1,848,370

PILE FABRIC KNITTING MACHINE I Filed Nov. 28', 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 8, 1932. D. P. MOORE FILE FABRIC KNITTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 28, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATE! riff/If!!! March 8, 1932. D. P. MOORE 1,848,370

PILE FABRIC KNITTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 28/1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Mar. 8, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DAVID PELTON MOORE, OF AVON PARK, FLORIDA PILE FABRIC KNITTING MACHINE Application filed November 28, 1939. Serial No. 498,818.

The present invention relates to improve- Figure 7, showing the mechanism adjacent ments in pile fabric knitting machines, one thekmtting machine. object of the invention being the provision Flgure 9 s a diagrammatic perspectlve of a combined knitting machine and miniaview illustrating one method of automaticalture carding machine having means whereby ly controlling the variable friction driving 55 the speed of one machine relative to the speed means. i of the other machine may be changed at will Although a latch needle knitting machine to thus regulate the quantity of fibers fed to is here shown it Is to be understood that the the open needles of the knitting machine. present inventlon is also applicable to a 10 Another object of this invention is the pro- Spring needle knlttlng machine. 00 vision of means whereby the fiber feeding Referring to the drawings, the numeral number may be adjusted. relative to the 14 designates the knittmg machine and 15 needles, to in turn regulate the depth to the miniature carding machine, the latter of which the needles penetrate the bristles of which is fixedly attached to the main ring 16 15 the feeding member and consequently the of the knitting machine. quantity of fibers received by the needles. The carding machlne, as here'shown, is pro- Heretofore, the carding machine has been vided with the side frames 17 and 17', conattached to and operated at a predetermined pled together, and properly supporting the speed from the knitting machine, with the fiber feed-in rollers 18 and 18. A pair of 20 consequence that in order toget light or directing and initial carding rollers 19 and heavy fiber feeding, the sliver or slubber 19', are adjustably mounted in the frames, had to be made or formed accordingly. This and as usual direct the fibers from the sliver has a decided disadvantage, and if a slubber or slubber fed by the rollers 1818', to the or sliver of a uniform size can be used, an apmain carding drum 20, there being two pairs 25 preciable saving and a wide variety of ma- 21 and 22, of assisting carding rollers adjustterial or fabric could be roduced. The ably supported by the frames and in cooper-- present invention was there ore designed to ative relation to the main drum 20, and all employ a uniform slubber and sliver and derollers are driven as shown by the arrows. liver the fibersin the desired quantity to the The two arms-23 and 24, are removably supneedles, the objects of the invention being ported upon the shaft 25 of the main carding accomplished with an apparatus as hereindrum, and for swinging movement; and in after set forth and claimed. the free, ends of these arms is journaled the In the accompanying drawings fixed shaft 26. the free ends of which extend Figure 1 is a side elevation of the upper through the elongated slots 27-27 of the portion of a latch needle knitting machine side frames and are locked in adjusted posiand carding machine with the adjustably tion by the pairs 28 and 28' of'set screws. mounted fiber feeding mechanism. Thus by this means the shaft and arms have Figure 2 is a similar view taken from the limited movement in an arc, the centerof opposite side of the apparatus. which is the shaft 25. A fiber feeding drum Figure 3 is a top plan view thereof. or member 29 is rotatably mounted upon the Figure 4 is a section through the fiber shaft 26, through anti-frictional bearings 30, feeding member showing the same in detail and one end of the drum is provided with a and broken away centrally. bevel gear 31, which meshes with the driven Figure 5 is a plan view of one of the sup-; bevel gear 32, carried by a shaft 33, journaled porting arms for the fiber feeding member. in the arm 24, and itself provided with anoth- F gure 6 is a slmilar view of the other arm. er bevel gear 34, meshing with and receiving 1 ur 7 1s a view ill trating a v ia e transmission from the larger bevel gear 35,-

- fr ction dr1v1ng means for the carding 'Inacarried by the main carding drum20. Itwill chine. 'thus be seen that the fiber. feeding drum is- Figure 8 is a view taken from the left of driven from the main carding drum, so that no inder 38, in accordance to the position of the 1 shaft 26 in its slots.

That is, when the shaft 26 is in its uppermost position, the needles just barely penetrate the bristles 36, and thus take a light load therefrom, whereas, if moved to the bottom of the slots, the extreme or heavy load will be taken. By this arrangement, it will be seen that the carding machine can be secured in a fixed position to the knitting machine and the two turnbuckled braces 39 adjusted to prevent any sidewise movement during the operating of the complete machine.

, Carried by the arms 23 and 24 are short arms 40 and 40, which bodily support the return feed drumor roller 41, which in turn is driven by the gear 42 carried by the fibe'r feeding drum 29 and the two gear-s43 and 43 and shaft 44, carried by the arm 40', the

- latter gear 43' engaging the gear 45 carried by the roller 41. .By this means the roller 41 is moved with the fiber feeding drum when adjusted.

The shaft 25 is the main drive shaft for the carding machine, and is provided as sldiown in Flgure 3 with an adj ustably mounte she 48, and the three speed gear change mechanism 49, from a gear meshing with a drive gear 51 of the main driving mechanism 52 of the knitting machine. By this arrangement, the change speed gear mecha-' nismcanbe manually set for the desired speed, so that the carding machine can be operated at three different speeds, low, intermediate and high speed, and thus the fiber feed to the needles can be more definitely set making three different fiber weight fabrics.

, and move in-the directions of and regulated, and the same sizeand character of sliver or slubber can be utilized for The other members of the carding machine may be driven in any desired manner. it be: ing essential, however, thatthey be adjusted the arrows. As shown in. Figures. 7, 8 and 9, a modified form of change speed drive mechanism is illustrated, and one that can be set and locked, or 0 rated automatically from the knitting .mac ine needle cylinder, the fabric formed under the automatic operation having rtions of varying thickness of fibers, an "by means of which different effects may be produced. As there shown, a friction disk 54 is operated by the knitting machine driving mechanism 52', and a shaft 55, tubular atits lower end and provided with a key way, carries a gear 47 at its upper end to mesh with the gear 46' of the main card drum, the jour nal 56 being adj ustably carried by the carding machine frame. Slidably mounted in the lower end of the shaft and rotatable therewith is a shaft 57 whose small friction drive disk 58 frictionally engages the outer face of ar 46, operated through the gear 47,

the drive disk 54, so that motion is transmitted to the carding machine, in accordance with the point of contact relatively to the center of the disk 54. To hold the disk 58 in low speed position, a collar 59 is fixed to theshaft 57, and an extension spring 60, bears against this collar and the lower end of the shaft 55, while to move the disk 58 against the action of the spring and to cause the disk 58 to change its relative position to the drive disk 54, and thus cause the card to be operated at varying increased speeds, a trip lever 61 is journalled at 62, and has a yoke fitting astride of the shaft 57 and engaging the collar 59, so that when the cam or cams 65 carried by the needle cylinder engage the inner end 64 of the trip lever, the lever moves the disk 58 as above described. Should, however, it be desirable to adjust and lock the shaft 57 and disk58 at a fixed speed, the cams are dispensed with and the set screws 66 carried b the shaft 55 engages and hdlds the shaft 57 in adjusted position.

From the foregoin description taken in conjunction with the rawings, it is evident that a universal machine for making knitted pile fabrics of varying weights is produced and that merely by regulating the speed of the miniature carding machine with relation to the speed of the knitting machine, the fiber feed to the needles may be regulated for the minimum to the maximum amount regardless of the size of the sliver or slubber.

Or when a bulk fiber feeding card attachment, such as set forth in'my co-pendin application filed September 25th, 1930, erial No. 484,448 is employed, it is merely necessary to drive said attachment through a variable or speed change transmission to obtain the'desired pile formation in the fabric.

It is also desirable to increase or decrease the width of the fiber feeding drum so that the distance of needle travel through the brush may be increased or decreased, and the consequent amount of fiber received in the needles will be varied. It is also contemplated to employ various shaped hooks in the needles, so that the receiving area for the fibers may be larger or smaller as the occasion may require.

By this particular arrangement, the relative feed in or delivery of fibers to the miniature carding machine may nevervary, or if 'so, very slightly within certain hmits, but

'1. The combination with a knitting machine having a driving mechanism, and a miniature carding machine for feeding fibers into the hooks of the needles of the knitting machine, of means for operatingthe carding machine in synchrony with the knitting machine, and means for varying the feed of the fibers from the carding machine to the needles of the knitting machine.

2. The combination with a knitting machine, and a miniature carding machine for feeding fibers into the hooks of the needles of the knitting machine, of means for operating the carding machine in synchrony with the knitting machine, and means for varyin the feed of fibers from the carding ma a the needles ,of the knitting machine.

5. The, combination as claimed in claim 2, in which a fiber feeding brush forms part of the carding machine and is swingingly mounted to regulate the distance the needles of the knitting machine may penetrate the I brush.

6. The combination as claimed in claiml, in which the carding attachment is provided with a main card drum driven by and from the dr iving mechanism of the knitting machine, and a variable speed transmission device interposed between the two.

7. The combination as claimed in claim 1 in which the carding attachment is provided with a main carding drum which is operatively connected to the driving mechanism of the knitting machine, and a variable speed transmission device forming a part-of said in which the knitting machine has a rotary operative connection.

8. The combination as claimed in claim 1, in which there is a driving connection havmg a variable speed transmission device interposed between the driving mechanism of tlfignknitting ma'chine'and the carding ma c e.

9. The combination as claimed in claim 1,

needle-cylinder operated by the driving mechanlsm, a driving connection having a variable speedv transmission device connecting the carding machine to the driving mechanism of the knitting machine, and cooperative means carried by the needle cylinder and the variable speed transmission mecha nism, whereby the needle cylinder automatically changes the operating speed of the carding machine during the rotation of the needle cylinder.

10. The combination as claimed in claim 1, in which there is a main carding drum, :1 fiber feeding brush, and a frame bodily sup-.

portingthe brush and mounted for swingmg movements with the axis of the carding drum its axial supporting point.

11. The combination as claimed in claim 1, in which there is a main carding drpm, a fiber feeding brush associated therewlth, a swingingly mounted frame carryin said brush and mounted upon a common axis with the carding drum, and means for locking said frame against swinging movement.

12. The combination as claimed in claim 1, in which thereis a main carding drum, a fiber feeding brush associated therewith, a swingingly mounted frame carrying said brush and mounted upon a common axis with the carding drum, a carding roller bodily carried by the frame and in cooperative relation with the fiber feeding brush to return surplus fibers from thebrush to the main carding' drum, and means for locking the swinging frame in adjusted position and against swinging movements.

13. The combination as claimed in claim 1, in which there is a main carding drum, a gear carried thereby, a drive sha t, a gear connected tothe drive shaft and meshing with the drum carried gear, and a variable speed transmission device connecting the shaft to the driving mechanism. 14. The combination as claimed as claim 1, in which there is a main cardin drum, a gear carried thereby, a drive sha a gear carried thereby and meshing with the drum carried gear, a variable speed transmission device connecting the shaft to the driving mechanism, and a fiber feeding'brush operably connected to the main carding drum.

15. Thecombination'as claimed in claim 1, in which there is a main carding drum, a frame swingingly mounted upon the axle of the carding drum, a gear carried by said carding drum, a gear transmitting means carried by the frame and operatively connected to the drum carried gear, and a fiber feeding brush mounted in and carried by the frame and operably connected to said gear transmitting means.

16. The combination as claimed in claim 1, inwhich there is a main carding drum a frame swingingly mounted upon the axle of the carding drum, and a fiber feeding rotary brush mounted in the free end of the frame and inoperative relation to the drum.

17 The combination asclaimed in claim 1, in which there is a main carding dru m a frame swingingly mounted upon the axle of the carding drum, a fiber feeding rotary brush mounted in the free end of the frame and in cooperative relation to the drum, and a variable speed transmitting drivin means between the driving mechanism andt emain I carding drum.

18. The combination as claimed in claim 1, in which there is a main carding drum, a frame swingingly mounted with its axis the ture;

axis of the drum, a rota fiber feeding brush mounted in the free end of the frame and in cooperative relation to the drum, a driving connection between the drum and the brush, and a variable speed driving transmission between the driving mechanism of the knitting machine and the main carding drum.

19. A fiber feeding attachment for knitting machines, including a frame, a cardin means mounted therein, means for recelving the fibres from the carding means and for delivering the fibers to the needles of the knitting machine, and means for adjust: ing the relative position of the latter to the needles to regulate the amount of fibers fed t1) the needles.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signa- DAVID'PELTON MOORE. 

